Barclays' Jenkins tells investors Barclays could axe 40,000 jobs

Sky News reports that Barclays chief executive Anthony Jenkins has told investors that he could see the bank reducing its worldwide headcount from 140,000 to 100,000.

Our banking specialist Tim Wallace:

Barclays is planning to automate as many functions as possible across all levels of its global operations, it emerged yesterday, potentially removing the need for thousands or even tens of thousands of staff.

The British bank wants to save £2.7bn in annual costs by 2015 before extending the plan for another decade as part of a long-term drive to make the bank a more lean and profitable institution.